Everyday Spirituality

Using the on/off switch

Scientists don’t fully understand the operations of genes. They have however discovered that RNA molecules can turn on/off in response to environmental factors such as stress or nutrition. RNA molecules are like switches and play a critical role in how and to what extent genes are used in the body.

Maybe one day, the ability to turn off what’s dubbed the “selfish gene” will be practiced. I say “practiced,” because there is nothing definite about a physical action. If a switch can be turned off, it can be turned on again. A thief can be put in jail, and they can get out and steal again. Until the penchant to steal is gone, physical manipulations are only attempts to solve a problem temporarily.

Most of us won’t deny that the selfish gene can lead to stress or over eating. It’s definitely a problem-maker. However, over the ages, people have turned off the selfish gene solely by means of a mental practice.

The underlying factor of “mind” can’t be underestimated or neglected as a crucial element in any practice.

Admittedly, the human mind comes up against its own limitations and can be lost or wasted.

This is where the divine Mind comes in. We can practice internalizing or adopting the divine Mind by getting to know it better than we get to know switching genes.

Getting to know divine Mind requires looking away from our mortal self. We must even look away from our expectations. We can’t get to know someone else by first expecting them to do something for us.

Releasing our human expectations, we can then find divine Mind which in turn can guide our human minds and bodies. Here is a definition of Mind from 21st Century Science and Health, “Mind. The only I, or Us; the only Spirit, Soul, divine Principle, substance, Life, Truth, Love; the one God; not that which is in man and woman, but the divine Principle of whom God’s child is the full and perfect expression; Deity, which outlines but is not outlined.”

A star gymnastFilm, The Gabby Douglas Story (2014), captured many of the emotions that surely were experienced before medals were earned at the 2008 Olympics. Gabby’s family, already at a level of impoverishment, sacrificed for Gabby Douglas to continue training. And, although tempted, Gabby didn’t give up.

Making the Bible practicalReading the Bible practically requires thought. This is different from reading the Bible emotionally or as if the words are what God said. The Bible isn’t a history book and God doesn’t speak human words. God is Spirit and communicates spiritually, mentally.
The David and Goliath story foun

Experience today's prayerMy husband just returned from a trip out west. In Seattle, Washington, he boarded an airplane after 6 a.m. and was in Albany, New York before 6 p.m. Seattle clock time was 3 p.m.
A nine hour trip that took him 3,000 miles. Doug went from sixty degrees Fahrenheit to one degree. From flowering rhod

Poetry and traditionAsh-Wednesday
by T S Eliot
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn

The questionable big bangBible scholars recognize two distinct accounts of creation in Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis through chapter 2:3, God renders the common noun, Elohim.
As for the second account, the beginning of human history, God renders Yahweh in the Hebrew.
For right reasoning, the two accounts ca